The present invention relates to a new and distinct hybrid cultivar of Medinilla plant, botanically known as Medinilla sp., hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘BELLA’. The genus of Medinilla belongs to the Melastomataceae family.
The new Medinilla ‘BELLA’ is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventors, Elly Bak and Nico D. M. Steur; in Assendelft, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to develop a new Medinilla variety with good growing habit and attractive inflorescence.
The new Medinilla ‘BELLA’ originated from a cross made in a controlled breeding program by the inventors in 2007 in Assendelft, The Netherlands. The female or seed parent is the Medinilla selection designated ‘82954514’ (unpatented), and the male or pollen parent is the Medinilla selection designated ‘82957015’ (unpatented). ‘BELLA’ was discovered and selected by the inventors in 2008, as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Assendelft, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new Medinilla hybrid ‘BELLA’ performed by vegetative means by cuttings was first performed in 2008, in Assendelft, The Netherlands. The first ‘BELLA’ plants propagated through the use of cuttings flowered in 2009, in Assendelft, The Netherlands, and have demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new cultivar are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new cultivar reproduces true-to-type.